Rewind, Reverse, and Replay
by The Maiden of Autumn
Summary: The world of Death Note has been rewound. Roles are reversed, lives are reversed, personalities are reversed, and the tape commences as the play button is pressed. But tapes get off their tracks sometimes, and the outcome of the battle between Kira and L this time around is going to be quite shocking… LightxL
1. Prologue

Prologue

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing.

-She would like to take a moment and recognize Remmy13, an utterly delightful mortal, without whose help this story would have been a complete mess. She holds a postion of high esteem in hte Autumn Realm, and the Maiden thanks and appreciates all the help she has given.

* * *

Light's father had often talked to him about justice.

It made sense, as his father was a police officer in Tokyo, Japan, and was extremely good at what he did. When Light was small, he and his father had been close, which was nothing odd between father and son.

And there were those times when Light's father came home in an almost boisterous mood, laughing and oddly carefree for a serious, hardened police official. But eventually, Light found that it was when a case was solved, a criminal caught and brought to justice that put that wonderful, happy sparkle in his father's stern eyes. And it was when that sparkle appeared in his father's eyes that he would play with Light as he had when he was very small, spend the whole rest of the night, and the weekend if the case was solved on a Friday with Light, devoting all of his attention to the son he sometimes was forced to neglect for the sake of his job.

And so, Light started looking forward to the times when a criminal was caught, because of this. Because it allowed his father to interact with him in a way that grew exceedingly rarer as Light grew older.

Justice meant time spent with his precious father, and so Light grew to adore this thing called justice, looking for the days when it was delivered at the hands of his father.

Eventually, Light learned the real meaning of the word, and that only stoked the adoration he had for the word, the idea. Bringing men who had done wrong, people who had hurt others, could hurt his father if the older man was not careful… Light grew to respect and fear that word, and as such, at the age of 8, Light wanted nothing more than to follow in his father's footsteps.

And even at the tender age of 8, as Light showed an uncanny aptitude for observation and problem solving skills, along with an unnatural intelligence, his father wanted nothing more than _for_ his son to be a police officer, or perhaps even a detective. Light would shine brilliantly at whatever he chose to do, his father was confident, and his wife seconded her husband's opinion.

And so everything was right, until one cold day in February.

Light could never, no matter how hard he tried, forget that awful day that set his whole life askew.

He still remembered, late at night, when the room was dark and the shadows turned into figures that seemed more threatening than shadows should be, the way the armed men had slunk into his house.

The gloves his kidnappers had been wearing still scratched against his lips, the roughness of the material catching and snagging against the dry skin as they clamped over his mouth. The sickly-sweet smell of whatever his kidnappers had eaten and remained on their breath still lingered in his nostrils in the dead of the night, and his wrists still burned with the rope that had been harshly wrapped around his wrists.

Dragged down the steps of his family's house, he had been thrown roughly onto the floor of their living room, watching, terrified, as his mother and father were dragged down as well, and his sister was tossed next to him, carelessly as if she were a rag doll.

Light still remembered the way the rope had snapped with a loud sound as it was jerked straight, ricocheting around the unnaturally silent house, almost drowning out the eerily similar sound of his mother's neck breaking as the murderers hung her.

He still couldn't forget the way he had watched, wide-eyed and unable to do anything as his father was repeatedly stabbed, the knife sliding home into chest, legs, arms, stomach, each missing a vital point so he wouldn't die, but be left in unbearable pain. The way the light had faded out of his father's eyes when he finally was a_llowed_ to die still haunted him.

But what he remembered the most, remembered the clearest was when the men seeking revenge on his father for putting their friend in prison and later executed, when their cold, sadistic eyes slid to his sister, and him, making him feel as if they was cornered, stalked like a rabbit caught by a fox, or perhaps a mouse by a cat.

The one thing that Light could still be thankful for was that they had not assaulted him nor his sister- apparently, even murderers had morals about molesting children. Instead, they had shot his sister in the stomach, and then laughing sadistically, had freed Light from his bonds and shoved the gun into his hands.

Let her die slowly and painfully, they told him, or put her out of her misery. It was a horrible ultimatum- one that had Light frozen and watching as his sister writhed and gasped in pain on the floor, her brown eyes beseeching him, her older and revered brother, to help her.

It was this that had made him raise the gun- but not at his sister. Instead, he had whirled on his attackers and fired the gun blindly, aiming to kill just one of them, please, God, just one of those motherfuckers that had invaded his house, his home, his sanctuary and broken his life apart.

In the end, he had only shot one of them, the murderer crumpling to the ground with thump as the other three fled with curses as the bullets from the pistol Light wielded flew around their heads. But Light counted carefully- he knew how many bullets this type of pistol held, and he was very careful, so careful to leave one in there.

He waited, listening carefully until he was sure the three men were gone- and then, he turned to his sister, dropping to his knees at her side. Blood leaked out from her waist, and there was the sharp smell of acid- the bullet must have ruptured a place in his sister's intestine, causing stomach acid to escape from the organ.

Her brown eyes gazed up at him, hazy with pain, and she blinked, before nodding her head as her eyes locked onto the gleaming silver pistol Light still held within his grasp.

Do it, she told him. It's alright- I understand.

Light turned his head to the side, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. His sister had always been mature for her age, Light still remembered, event to his day, and most likely would have grown up to match, if not rival his own intelligence if this had never happened.

Light had nodded once, bringing the gun up, but not to her head. He still remembered watching a movie where the main character had put his horse down by shooting it on the head, and the image of putting his sister down like a common animal seemed to wrong and still made him want to vomit at the thought. Instead, he brought the gun to her chest, poised directly above her heart, and after whispering a heart-wrenching apology, and pulled the trigger, his heart breaking as the shot that ended his lovely sister's life echoed around the deathly silent house. He had dropped the gun, backing away, turning his back on the sight before him as he surveyed the scene before him.

Bile still rose in his throat whenever Light remembered that he hadn't been _important _enough, _worth_ enough to be killed and released from the nightmare he couldn't wake up from. He had dropped to his knees, head clasped in his hands, trying to process what had just happened to him, to his life.

And later, as he finally got enough strength to stand up, albeit wobbily and gaze around, taking in his dead parents, it was then that his eyes hardened.

Justice… it had not saved his parents, and had not spared him in the end. It was flawed, he knew. It wasn't perfect. He did not blame his father, but instead those that allowed men like this to run free.

For an 8 year old, Light was uncannily smart, he knew it himself. Could tell in the way children his age shied away from him, and adults were uncomfortable around him.

Walking unsteadily over to his father's body, he sank down with a sigh, reaching out to grasp the hand that was steadily becoming more chilled as the minutes passed.

Sitting there, by the cooling corpse of his father, Light thought and pondered until the late morning, when his father's partner came by to see why the Light's father wasn't at work that day. The man's name was Quillish Whammy, and along with being a police officer, he was also an inventor on the side, often allowing Light to help him on smaller projects, delighting in the way the brilliant young boy's mind seemed to be able to grasp and conquer any task Quillish set for him quickly.

What he found horrified him. It was the way that his partner's son, blood-spattered and filthy, was sitting calmly at his father's side, thoughtful, yet blank amber eyes sliding up to meet his own. It was how the bodies just _lay_ there, eyes closed and if not for the blood on his partner's chest and crooked angle of his friend's wife's neck as she hung from the rafters, they could have been merely at rest. And the daughter… shot in the heart and stomach and resting there, eyes wide open, staring and unseeing.

Light himself was not bothered by the corpses; that would come later. For right now, he was simply thinking about what was to come next. His life had been altered irrevocably, he knew. A rage, hot and red and insidious, was slipping into his brain, rage at the flawed justice system that had allowed men like the ones that had ruined his family, his life, his future, to roam free. It was the spark of an idea, planted by his brilliant mind and fueled by his father's words.

Even his father had known that their justice was not perfect. He remembered his father reminiscing about the world's way of dealing with criminals, clear as day.

_"The system is not perfect, my son." His father had said sadly, looking down at the small boy resting contentedly on his lap. It was one of the good days, a day when his father had solved a case, and after the initial excitement had worn off, the whole house had settled into a state of relaxation, contentedness saturating the air around them. "We are only human beings; average intelligence, simple minds attempting to do the best we can to help the good people of this world by putting bad people away. But you… you are above average; you are like a shining star in the dark sky that is humanity. You have the potential to do something great with your life, Light. You could potentially change the world, if you set your mind to it."_

And so, those words ringing in his ears, Light had dropped his father's hand, and stood shakily to his feet. Anger and a fierce determination flashed in those remarkable amber eyes, replacing the blank thoughtfulness of earlier. "Quillish," Light had said determinedly. "I want to catch the men who did this- and every one of them like them. I want to have them judged and found guilty and _punished_ for their crimes. Will you help me?"

* * *

It was Light's fervor that had stunned Quillish, before the emotions flashing in Light's eyes let him know the 8 year old genius was serious about this. And so, his own creative mid working furiously, standing in the home of his deceased friend's home, Quillish suddenly saw an opportunity to put to affect a plan that had been niggling at the back of his brain for so long.

Light would make an excellent detective, Quillish knew. With the determination, the intelligence, and the thirst to catch criminals… he could become one of the finest detectives in the world.

And so, not 5 minutes after Light's request that would seem ridiculous to anyone who didn't know the boy so well, who would have thought it was the shock talking, Quillish hesitantly nodded, crouching down to explain his idea, steadfastly ignoring the disturbing sight of the corpses Light was standing nonchalantly next to.

It would have to happen in utmost secrecy, Quillish told Light. They would have to disappear, as no one could know of his connection, lest their identities be discovered. The life of a detective was often a dangerous one, one that accrued many enemies and dangerous men out to get them.

They would have to leave the country, start a new life, and Light would have to study, study hard and train both his body and his mind. If Light wanted to be able to catch the best, he'd have to be the best.

And Light agreed instantly, a light glinting in his eyes that Quillish was uneasy to see. Revenge was not always the best motivation, but in some cases, cases like this where one had lost everything… it was the only thing the person had left, that could keep them going.

So Quillish dismissed it, instead using his skills to set the house on fire to make it look like an accident, raiding the morgue of the nearby mortuary for a boy's body about Light's size and setting it in the blazing house as well.

Then, not waiting to see the house be razed to the ground, Quillish and Light, each carrying only a single suitcase with a small portion of their belongings, caught a train to the airport, where they proceeded to purchase a ticket, board the plane bound for England, and disappear into thin air.


	2. Boredom

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing

* * *

17 years later…

Lawliet was bored.

He was bored with everything; the teachers who taught what he already knew, the students, his classmates that gossiped what he didn't care about, the school on which there was nothing to distract his brain from.

It was mind- numbing, and Lawliet Yagami, resident genius and aloof recluse, found his attention wandering for the umpteenth time that day, letting his eyes slide over to the window, where the gorgeous afternoon sun was shining.

Luckily, the professor knew not to call on him, as he spoke English better than the professor himself, so he widely left alone. Still, he attempted to force himself to pay attention, but something out of the corner of his eye drew attention.

It was a black notebook, falling out of the sky.

Frowning, he turned his head the slightest fraction of an angle in an attempt to see it better. Notebooks didn't just fall out of the sky, and he was in one of the highest placed buildings in this area. His eyes flickered up, then widened as he saw that indeed, there was nowhere the notebook could have fallen from but open sky.

"Mr. Yagami, would you please recite this line from the book for us?"

Lawliet turned his attention away from the window and stood up, flicking through his book until he reached the right page. "Follow the teachings of God until you receive his blessings, and so it shall be that the seas will again become bountiful, and the raging storms will subside," he read, eyes scanning easily over the English language. And it was easy.

While his native language was Japanese, he had spent enough time reading ahead and looking through the dictionary to commit much of the English language's words to memory. As he had an eidetic memory, he could recall everything he read with perfect accuracy; it was why he was so good with languages, along with any other type of learning.

"Good," their teacher said, clearly pleased. "You may be seated."

Lawliet sat back down in his seat, resting his chin in one hand and ignoring the whispers that came from his other classmates, mixed admiration and jealousy. He tuned them out, turning his attention back to the window.

Had someone come to claim the notebook? If it was from a student on the higher levels of the building, then surely it would have been retrieved, as it would be crucial to take notes from the lesson?

But it was still there, lying forgotten and dejected in the grass.

* * *

He hadn't forgotten the notebook lying in the grass. The conundrum of such a thing falling out of the sky intrigued him, and served to occupy his idle brain for the rest of the day, until the bell rang an school was finally out.

He slouched out of the school, ignoring the masses of people swirling around him; they faded into the background, uninteresting and boring. His mind was full of thoughts of the black notebook that had fallen out of the sky, and as he walked out of the doors and stepped onto the sidewalk, he flicked his eyes over to the place where he knew the notebook lay.

It was still there.

He paused for second, people streaming around him as he considered the notebook, glancing around.

Perhaps it was someone's?

But how had it fallen from the sky?

The damned thing called curiosity got the best of him and he stepped off the sidewalk, making his way over to the black notebook. He glanced around once, trying to see if there was anyone else coming over to claim it, before seeing no one and bent down to pick it up.

An odd tingling assaulted his fingers as he picked it up, making frown. How odd.

It was on it's back, so Lawliet flipped it over, his eyebrows raising as he saw the words written on the front.

Death Note.

Curious, he flipped open the front, cover, eyes locking onto the words written in the front cover in white ink, in what looked to be a child's handwriting.

How to Use It was written in bold lettering, and underneath, what looked to be a set of rules, the first being:_ the human's whose name is written in this note shall die._

Lawliet stared for a moment at the words before sighing and flipping it shut, shaking his head. Some idiot had no doubt written this in the notebook and left it here as a sick prank, intending for someone to come by, pick it up, and try it out, no doubt to some hidden watcher's amusement.

He was smarter than to fall for that, and had better things to do than deal with something like this that was quite obviously a bad prank. Shrugging, he let it fall from his hands, back onto the grass and turned, dismissing it from his mind.

Death Note indeed.

He left the black notebook lying there on the warm grass, turning and heading home, ignoring the few girls' heads that turned to stare at him as he got back onto the sidewalk and adjusted his bag. They were of little consequence- everything in this city was, and Lawliet couldn't wait to move onto university in another month.

Walking away from school, he didn't notice the yellow and red eyes that watched him amusedly, or the sharklike grin that grew only wider as it saw the Death Note left behind.

But not for long.

* * *

"I'm home!" Lawliet opened the door to his house, his mother rounding the corner and wiping her wet hands off with a dishrag, a welcoming smile blossoming on her face.

"Welcome home, Lawliet. How was your day?" Sachiko asked.

Lawliet shrugged, slipping his shoes off. "It was nothing special. I'm going to my room to study," Lawliet told her, already climbing up the stairs. "I have a test coming up."

"Alright, Lawliet," Sachiko said, watching her son' back with proud eyes. He was such a good son, so bright and hardworking. He was the sort of son that a mother dreamed to brag about- and she did, regularly, to her friends about his grades and his upright mannerisms. She didn't mind him hiding away in his room all the time- it was simply a testament to how dedicated he was to his schoolwork and his future plans. "Supper will be done in about an hour or so- do you have cram school tonight?"

"Tomorrow night," Lawliet dismissed her reminders and made his way up the rest of the stairs, opening the door to his room, flipping the lights on, and closing and locking the door behind him.

Then went to this desk and switched his computer on, sitting down in his chair with a sigh. He had homework to do-useless busy-work in his opinion, for someone of his intelligence-and he might as well get started on it. He bent down to retrieve his work book out of his bag, and as he straightened, caught a glimpse of the reflection off of his computer screen-

And his heart almost stopped beating at the sight reflected back at him.

His eyes widened, and he let out a sharp cry of shock, whirling around and to his feet, staring with stark terror at the monster that was behind him, grinning wickedly.

It was horrible-looking, with bulging red and yellow eyes, a sharp-teeth filled grin that contorted its features, and a long, boney body that towered far over Lawliet's own. "Monster!"

The thing laughed, a dry, breathy, horrid sound. "Heh, not quite," the thing said, it's voice low and raspy. "More like Shinigami. My name is Ryuk, and you left this," Ryuk held up a black notebook that was horribly familiar up in its gloved hand, "behind today."

Lawliet could only stare, speechless, at the notebook with the words Death Note scrawled onto it. "I.. I didn't want it! It's obviously some sort of prank! There's no such thing as a notebook that kills people," Lawliet said, terrified.

Ryuk laughed once more, tossing the Death Note onto the desk next to Lawliet. "Oh, such a thing exists," Ryuk said, grinning. "Death Notes are owned by Death Gods, or Shinigami as we're better known as. I dropped mine to Earth, and you picked it up, claiming it. It's now yours, until you die and I regain ownership of it."

Lawliet's mind was spinning, rapidly processing the information. He looked at the Shinigami, then the Death Note, and back to the hulking Shinigami once more, before slowly and tentatively picking up the black notebook. "It… this is no prank, then? It's true, what you're telling me? You and this notebook are indeed, real?"

Lawliet was still extremely skeptical, but he was beginning to become inclined to believe the Shinigami's words. He had not smoked or done rugs, or anything else that would mess with his mind and cause hallucinations nor delusions. He had eaten lunch and was properly hydrated, so that would not be an excuse, either.

Ryuk nodded. "Yeah, we're real alright. You're now the owner of my Death Note, able to kill a person simply by writing their real name down in that book there." The Shinigami extended a long finger and pointed it at the note held within Lawliet's hands. "The notebook becomes a part of the human realm from the very moment it touches the earth. That notebook, and all the power that comes with it, is now yours."

Killing people… The power to kill with just a name and a face now lie within his hands…Lawliet felt a bit nauseous at the thought, and looked up, face pale. "And what if I don't want it?" he whispered.

Ryuk shrugged. "You could give it to someone else. I'm sure that they'll be more than happy to use the power of the Death Note. Or, you could give it back to me- I'd have to erase all your memories of course, but it would be out of your hands."

Lawliet thought for a moment, stroking the cover of the black notebook thoughtlessly. Ryuk's eyes latched onto the motion, and he smirked. Looks like the human was already subconsciously getting attached to the note- a side-effect of the Death Note's influence.

Lawliet thought over his two options. He didn't want to give the note to someone else and have them start killing people- he'd be as good as creating and abetting a murderer if he did that. But, on the other hand…

"What would happen if I gave it back to you? What would you do with it?"

Ryuk blinked. Damn, but the kid was clever. He shrugged. "I don't know," he lied. "I might accidentally drop it again, I might just go back to the Shinigami realm."

Lawliet nodded. "I see…" he sat down, thinking and staring at the black notebook.

A notebook that could kill people easily and quickly, without leaving an =y trace behind of who did it… it was an object of immense power, and Lawliet shuddered to think what would happen If it fell into the wrong hands. He couldn't very well give it away in good conscience, nor would he be comfortable with letting the Shinigami have it again if it was unsure if he was going to drop it somewhere where another person could pick it up and potentially use it.

That meant… Lawliet looked up. "I think… I'll keep it. Not to kill people with," Lawliet rushed to add, seeing the smirk that the Shinigami's face was taking on, "but to keep it out of the hands of those who would."

"So, you're not gonna test it out?" Ryuk asked, looking down at the notebook. "Not even write one name to prove that I'm not lying?" he pressed. Damn this stubborn kid. He wanted amusement, and all he got was some prude talking about keeping it safe from the world.

Lawliet shook his head, opening his desk drawer and dropping the Death Note into it. "No. I have the proof right before me- an actual Shinigami. I have no reason to disbelieve you, Ryuk. If you say it works, then it works. I don't need to take a life to sate my curiosity. That would be wrong."

Ryuk frowned, although it was hard to see because of his perpetually-grinning mouth. "Yeah, but, that's not gonna work forever." At Lawliet's inquisitive quirked brow, he clarified. "The notebook comes with a curse of curiosity. You might be reluctant to use it now, but sooner or later, you'll start to doubt me, and then you'll have to write a name in the notebook to satisfy that curiosity. No one has ever been in a possession of a Death Note and never used it. Better to just get it over with now."

"How do I know that you're not lying in order to get me to use the notebook?" Lawliet asked, narrowing his eyes at the Shinigami.

"Because I've seen it happen before. The longer you resist writing a name in the notebook, the stronger the pull is. The notebook is almost a living entity- death itself. The longer it goes without taking a life, the stronger it's need is for death. The longer you resist the pull to write a name, the more you'll find yourself writing down when you finally cave in and do it."

Lawliet blinked, then smiled slightly. "I'd like to believe I have a stronger willpower than that, Ryuk. I'll just keep it in my desk, and no one will be the wiser."

"Yeah, but, you'll lose your memories of it after 490 days if you fail to use it before that time, or if- eh, why am I having to explain the rules? Look in the book- everything's written in there, on the first few pages. Excluding a few things of course, but you'll need to ask me if you want to know _them,_" the Shinigami leered.

"How many rules to this notebook are there?" Lawliet questioned, glancing down at the drawer that held the notebook. He was curious to learn more about this notebook, now that Ryuk had mentioned the rules that came along with it. How could there be rules to a notebook of death? It seemed pretty simple.

Ryuk noticed the glance and grinned. The curse of curiosity was not something he was lying about- and it looked like it was already starting to take hold. "There's a few. But I'm not gonna waste time by explaining them to you when you have the notebook right there," Ryuk said, pointing at the drawer. "If you want to know the rules so badly, why not just pull it out and look at them?"

"I get the feeling you _want_ me to start killing people, Ryuk," Lawliet said suspiciously. "Why is that?"

Ryuk shrugged, not wanting to reveal his true purpose. He had a feeling this kid would react badly if he told Lawliet he had dropped the notebook just for his own amusement. "Eh, it doesn't matter to me. I just hate to see the notebook tossed aside. It has a purpose, and it's not to be locked up and forgotten."

At that moment, Lawliet's name was called, and the teenager's head rose in response. "Lawliet, supper's done!"

Sighing, Lawliet nodded to himself and got up, after making sure that the Death Note was stashed carefully in the drawer and out of sight. Ryuk chuckled and Lawliet turned to him, wondering what could possibly be so funny.

"I forgot to tell you- as the possessor of my Death Note, I'm obligated to follow you around- whether you have the notebook with you or not," Ryuk told him, coming closer. "Which means that you won't be rid of me unless you give up the notebook."

"You'll be following me around?!" Lawliet exclaimed. "What about the others?"

"Oh, they won't see me- unless they touch my Death Note. If they come into contact with my Death Note, they'll be able to see me. So you might want to be careful about where you keep the Death Note. Someone could come in, open your drawer and touch it, and they'd be able to see me."

Lawliet glanced once at the drawer, and then turned away. "I don't think anyone will be coming up to my room and searching it. Later, I'll find a safe place for it, but it's safe for now. You'll be following me around, huh?" Lawliet mused, raising his thumb to his lips to mouth at it while he thought. It was a habit that Sachiko had never been able to break him of, although he restrained himself to doing it only in privacy. "I suppose it can't be helped, can it?"

Ryuk laughed. "Nah, it can't. I'm bound to you as you are the owner of my Death Note. So we'll be seeing a lot of each other, I'm afraid."

"Hm." Lawliet hummed thoughtfully, before turning to the door. "Well, then, do as you please. As a God of Death, I can't stop you, can I?"

Ryuk shook his head, smiling to himself as Lawliet left the room, himself closely behind the black-haired teenager.


	3. Dawning Ideas of a New World

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing.

-The Maiden would like to thank all of the reviewers and readers, and hope they continue to enjoy

-She would also like to mention that if any reader has a question pertaining to _any_ of her stories, they may feel free to either PM her or if they are unable to do so, write their question in a review. The question will either be answered in an Author's Note or incorporated into the story. Unless it has to do with the future plot. Then, she cannot answer, as it would give the story away and ruin it- those of the Autumn realm love suspense and unpredictability.

* * *

Having Ryuk following him around was…weird, Lawliet had decided. It was disconcerting to turn around and have the hulking figure behind him, watching with its creepy eyes.

He eyed Ryuk secretively as he brought a piece of chicken to his mouth, seeing the Shinigami hover over his sister, examining her. "You know, you humans are kind of ugly," Ryuk mused, tapping his chin with a clawed finger.

The words coming from such an unappealing specimen as Ryuk caused Lawliet to choke on his piece of chicken in surprise and he coughed, feeling it struggle down his throat.

"Lawliet!" His mother said, concerned. She put down her chopsticks and reached out, laying hand on Lawliet's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Lawliet nodded, sending the Shinigami a glare, narrowing his large black eyes. "I'm fine," he said. "Something just… surprised me. A stray thought, that's all," Lawliet explained, waving it away and picking up his chopsticks once more. "I'm fine."

"Oh. Alright then." His mother picked up her own chopsticks and resumed eating, paying no more attention to the situation.

Lawliet shot a glare at Ryuk, who shrugged and backed away. "Sorry. Just making an observation," the Shinigami said nonchalantly.

Lawliet only rolled his eyes discreetly and then resumed eating, intent on ignoring the Shinigami.

"Hey, is dad going to be home tonight?" Sayu asked, slurping up a noddle, juice flicking onto her chin.

"Don't do that, dear- wipe your chin," Sachiko chided, sliding a napkin over to Sayu, who took it and wiped her chin obediently before dropping the napkin to the table. "And your father is going to be late again, I'm afraid."

"Oh…" Sayu mumbled, and then resumed eating, leaving them to eat quietly as silence pervaded the room.

* * *

Ryuk followed Lawliet back up to his room after he had thanked his mother for dinner and told her he was going to bed.

As he closed the door, shutting both him and the Shinigami in, Lawliet ignored Ryuk in favor of going to the drawer and pulling out the notebook, holding it between two fingers, almost as if he were afraid it would bite him. Ryuk perked up in interest, grinning as he saw Lawliet lay on his bed, on his stomach, and flip the Death Note open.

"Hey, Lawliet, what are you doing?"

Lawliet looked up for a second then went back to the notebook. "As reluctant as I am to handle something like this, I've figured that it would be in my best interest to learn what I can about it. If I'm going to be in control of it, I should at least learn the rules so that I'm not caught unawares of anything pertaining to it."

"Oh, I see," Ryuk said, nodding.

He left Lawliet alone while he was skimming over the rules of the notebook he had come into possession of. Instead, Ryuk examined the boy's room, a hairless brow raising as he took a look around. Spotless and clean, not a single thing out of place.

Ryuk huffed in displeasure as he saw that there was nothing here for entertainment other than books… He floated over to the bookshelf, hoping for at least one comic book or manga, but they were all works of literature and the such- enough to make even a God of Death wish to turn the Death Note on himself, of death through such means was possible.

Didn't most teenage boys have at least some sort of… of…gaming console, or some other blasted thing?!

"Hey Lawliet," Ryuk called from his spot by the bookshelf. "Don't you have anything interesting in here to do?" Apples, he came here for amusement, and he got this boring… teenager. They were supposed to be rash and hotheaded, their overabundance of hormones making them do stupid and hasty things! Not… take everything calmly and refuse to use the Death Note.

"Hm…?" Lawliet hummed, flicking his large black eyes up from the notebook. He glanced around the room, taking in his sparsely-furnished room. He wasn't one to care for over-indulgence; his father had not always been chief of police, and when he was younger, yen had been tight in their family, with the addition of his younger baby sister not helping at all. As a result, they hadn't had the yen to afford any luxuries, and Lawliet got used to it, enough that he didn't have any problem with not having more things in his room. He had the basic necessities, and that was all he needed.

"I'd suggest you read a book, but it seems that you've already dismissed that option." Lawliet looked around the room, his eyes finally resting on his computer before smiling lightly and going back to the Death Note. "Why don't you use the computer? I don't mind if you do…."

"Hey, I don't know what sort of stuff you look up on it…" Ryuk eyed the computer with a mixture of disgust and distrustfulness. He knew enough of young teenage boys to not trust their computers…

Lawliet froze, looking up to send Ryuk a glare from his one visible eye, the rest of his hair coming down to fall into his right eye. "That is almost insulting, what you are implying. I have neither the time nor the inclination for such things. If there's nothing else you care to do, then at least answer a few of my questions," he said, sitting up and resting the notebook onto his lap.

"What is it?" Ryuk questioned, drifting loser to Lawliet, desperate for some sort of mental stimulation. Even if he hated answering questions about the Death Note, it was better than floating around, doing nothing.

"I find it hard to believe that an object of such immense power doesn't have more rules…is there something not written on here that you know but wasn't put on here?" Lawliet flipped through the pages what he rules written on them for emphasis.

"Heh, you're pretty smart," Ryuk chuckled. "Yeah, there's a lot more, but they apply to Shinigami, not humans in possession of a Death Note."

"That's a quite evasive answer, Ryuk," Lawliet mused, tapping the cover of the Death Note thoughtfully. No doubt the Death God was trying to hide something… "Tell me, are there any rules not written in the Death Note that you know that does pertain to humans?" Lawliet asked, making his question very clear and direct so the Shinigami couldn't wriggle his way out of answering it.

Ryuk laughed raspily; this kid was good. He was amusing when he was talking. Maybe he'd have to keep Lawliet doing so, as that seemed the only way to get some entertainment out of the teenager. "Yeah, there's a few," Ryuk said, grinning. "I can't tell you all of them, but I can tell you a few."

Lawliet's brows furrowed in thought. "Why wouldn't you be able to tell me these rules?" he asked. "Is there some sort of rule preventing Shinigami from telling humans possessing Death Notes certain rules? How is that possible- you are Gods of Death, and extremely powerful."

"Eh, as reluctant as I am to shatter your faith in us," Ryuk said, raising a hairless brow, "our power lies firmly in the Death Note. We rely on it for our lives- every time we write a human's name down in he Death Note and kill them, what remains of their lifespan is transferred to our own. And we do have a higher figure of authority- the Shinigami are answerable to the King, although his power of the Shinigami has lessened over the years. He's virtually useless right now- his lifespan is just ticking down. As soon as he crumbles to dust, the rest of the Shinigami and our realm most likely will as well, since the king is the only one to hold it together. But that won't be for a while- the king is very old and has accumulated hundreds of thousands of years on his lifespan."

"Fascinating," Lawliet breathed, eyeing Ryuk with wide eyes. "Shinigami have a ruler? And your own realm… although," Lawliet said, his expression changing to one of confusion, "you keep mentioning lifespan. What is that?"

"Lifespan is… it's kinda hard to explain," Ryuk said, scratching his head. "It's the amount of time that a human or Shinigami has left, if their name is not written in a Death Note or interfered with. It's not a definite thing- it fluctuates constantly, growing and lessening in accordance ot the human's choices or the choices of those around them. Shinigami lifespans don't change, other than to continuously tick down, or go up when we write a name in our Death Note."

"And how do you know a human or Shinigami's lifespan?" Lawliet asked, leaning forwards. This was absolutely enthralling, this new wealth of information he was getting from the Shinigami. He would have written this all down, if he didn't have such an accurate memory.

"Because I have Shinigami Eyes," Ryuk said smugly, tapping the corner of his left eye, He had to admit, it was kind of cool, seeing the kid so fascinated with the Shinigami culture. All of the other Death Note owners didn't care one whit about what he told them unless it dealt with them, personally. And the other owners had ignored him totally, avoiding him because of his Shinigami looks.

Although, he thought that humans were ones to talk- all hairless and fragile, they were pretty ugly themselves.

But seeing the kid studying him, listening intently to him… it was kinda nice to be somewhat appreciated, for a change. Kinda made Lawliet endear himself to Ryuk, slightly.

"Shinigami Eyes?" Lawliet breathed, studying Ryuk's eyes intently. "What are they?"

"They're special eyes only Shinigami have," Ryuk told him, feeling much more forthcoming with the information since Lawliet looked so eager to listen to him. The kid even looked to have forgotten about the Death Note, as it was starting to side from his hands out of his lap. "They allow Shinigami and the humans who also have them to see the true name and lifespan of any human- or Shinigami- they encounter. It floats above their head, in red, clear lettering." Ryuk's eyes drifted up above Lawliet's head, chuckling as he saw Lawliet's . "For example, I can see that your name is Yagami Lawliet, although I can't tell you your lifespan."

"Why is that?" Lawliet asked. "And how can humans have Shinigami Eyes?"

"So many questions- you're tiring me out, kid," Ryuk sighed, folding his arms. "Last two questions- I'll answer more tomorrow. I can't tell you your lifespan because by doing so, I've violated one of the Shinigami's rules, and it will cause me to die. And humans get Shinigami Eyes by doing the Eye Trade Deal- you and I could do it, in fact."

"How?" Lawliet's eyes glinted with the thought, not noticing where his thoughts were taking him. To possess such eyes, to see anyone's true name and the amount of time they had left… What an amazing power! Though… Lawliet glanced at the Death Note, suddenly noticing that it was about to fall to the ground and clutching it tighter in his hands. The Shinigami Eyes would only be useful if one planned to use the Death Note, and he absolutely had no plans of doing so. Killing people was wrong, unless it was in self-defense or in the defense of others.

Killign with the Death Note was none of those things, and so Lawliet refused to use it.

"The trade? It's easy," Ryuk shrugged. "We make the deal, and I give you my Eyes- in exchange for half of your remaining lifespan. So if you had forty years left, if you did the trade with me, you'd only have 20 left. Pretty simple. And you can do it any time you wish. Buuuuut… I don't think you're gonna do it," he sighed.

Lawliet's lips tugged up in a small smile at that. "No, I'm not. I quite like my life-I've no intention of cutting it short. And the Shinigami Eyes, as utterly fascinating as they would be to have, would be useless to me unless I planned to use the Death Note-which I don't."

"Yeah, didn't think so," Ryuk sighed dismally. "Eh, I'm done answering your questions for tonight." He started floating towards the wall, and Lawliet was surprised.

It looked like the Shinigami was leaving- but here would he go?

"Where are you going?"

Ryuk looked back. "To see if there's any stores I can nick an apple or two out of."

"You like apples?" Lawliet asked, taken aback. "I didn't think Shinigami needed to eat. Your name suggested the contrary-Death Gods…"

"Well, technically, I don't need food, but apples… they're so juicy and delicious here! The ones in the Shinigami Realm are so dry- they crumble to dust after the first bite."

"Stealing is wrong, Ryuk," Lawliet chided, getting up. The Death Note was still clutched in his hand, although he didn't seem to notice it. He padded over to the door, opening it. "We have some apples in the kitchen. I'll get you some, if it would stop you from robbing a convenience store."

"I see you have the Death Note still with you," Ryuk pointed out, extending a clawed finger at the black notebook still clutched in Lawliet's hand. "Are you planning to show me off to your family?"

"Hm?" Lawliet looked down, his large eyes widening as he realized that he had hung onto the notebook without realizing it. "Ah, I suppose I should put it away…" He brought his thumb up to worry at it, gazing at the notebook, before turning back to the desk and somewhat reluctantly opening the drawer and placing it inside. He was oddly reluctant to set it down- there was something compelling about it… something that made him want to hold onto it.

Without thinking, Lawliet's hand extended out to it, before blinking as he realized what he was doing and retracting his hand, shaking his head.

No… it was the curse that Ryuk had mentioned earlier; it was making him want to keep and use it. His eyes narrowed as he firmly shut the drawer and turned away, not sparing it another glance.

He had more willpower than this. He could get by without touching and holding the Death Note, no matter how much he wanted to. It would not control him.

These thoughts firmly in mind, Lawliet headed back out the door, not noticing Ryuk's eyes flicker to the drawer the Death Note was contained in, and then at Lawliet's back, an amused gleam in his eyes.

Watching Lawliet fight against the compulsion of the Death Note… perhaps this wouldn't be as boring as he thought. Chuckling to himself, Ryuk followed Lawliet's disappearing figure down the stairs, already drooling at the thought of human-realm apples.

* * *

The rest of the night and the next day passed without anything out of the ordinary happening- unless one wanted to call a hulking black Shinigami following one around like an oversized crow out of the ordinary.

True to his previous words, Ryuk stayed close at Lawliet's side, never leaving him even as he prepared for school, ate, walked, and sat in the classroom all day.

It was odd, though, having a constant pair of eyes watch him throughout the day. And it was slightly unnerving when Ryuk floated through the bathroom door, startling him as he towel- dried his hair, shaking it so that it fell normally.

He was just glad that the Shinigami had not come in while in the actual process of showering.

And the Shinigami hadn't failed to notice when Lawliet slipped the Death Note out of the desk drawer, his eyes figuratively burning a hole in the back of Lawliet's head, asking a silent question.

_Why are you taking it if you aren't going to use it?_

Flinching, Lawliet had turned and explained that it was safer with him- at least with him, it would remain safely in his bookbag, which no one else ever touched. In his drawer, it could be subject to being found by an organizing mother or overly snooping sister.

He would carry it around, he explained, until he was able to find a safe place to hide it.

Ryuk had smiled slyly, knowingly, causing Lawliet to blanch, suspecting that the Shinigami knew that part of the reason he didn't want to leave it behind was, well… because he didn't _want_ to.

But luckily, other than that, the Shinigami had behaved rather well throughout the day. After a few hours of Lawliet simply ignoring him, Ryuk had gone to amuse himself by mimicking the teacher and a few other students, Lawliet steadfastly trying to hide the smirk that flirted at the corner of his lips overtime Ryuk did something ridiculous.

And at lunch, Ryuk sat next to him under a tree, on the side facing away from the rest of the students. Lawliet had smuggled a few apples out of the house and sneakily fed them to Ryuk, seeing proof as to how much the Shinigami loved apples after hungrily snarfing them down that last night.

And all went well going home as well- he was able to fit in a few more questions about the Death Note and Shinigami in general, seeing as no one was about. His mother greeted Lawliet as usual, reminding him of cram school that he had to leave for in 20 minutes before he went upstairs to get ready.

He set his bookbag down and flopped down onto his bed, Ryuk hovering to the side of him.

"Hey, shouldn't you be getting ready?"

Lawliet shook his head, eyes closing and hair splaying out on the bed. "No…I have an a few minutes. I think it's alright if I lay here for a moment. It was a rather tiring day…"

"Man…don't you have anything to do at all?" Ryuk asked desperately, not fond of the idea of simply standing around, doing nothing until Lawliet decided to get ready.

"Read. Use my computer-learn a few things about this age. Or…" Lawliet's eyes slid open, his thin black brows furrowing as he recalled something. "I might have a PSP that my parents bought me a few years ago. They were worried that I spent too much time focusing on my schooling and bought it for me in the hopes it would divert my attention onto something normal teenagers did. Of course," Lawliet continued, standing to his feet and going over to his bookshelves, peering into the fourth shelf up and moving a few books aside, "now, that is all they expect of me- perfect grades from their star son and student." This was said matter-of-factly, but there was an undercurrent of bitterness lying hidden within the words that Ryuk found intriguing.

"I can't help but think that if they truly wanted me to have a sense of normalcy, as other teenagers did, they should not have been so strict about which clubs I could attend and whom I was allowed to socialize with- and curfew, as well."

Lawliet's voice grew softer as he spoke, until it seemed as if he were simply talking to himself, although Ryuk was still listening. "They had good intentions, but… I have the feeling they truly didn't know how to raise a child at the time. Of course, now they know how to deal with Sayu, but I can't help but feel a bit…resentful of that, sometimes…" Lawliet's arm stretched further onto the bookshelf and his hand fumbled around, until it finally grasped onto the object he was searching for.

"Ah, here it is," he said, a small, pleased smile on his face. He withdrew a small black, oblong gaming device and the charger that came with it, plugging it into the wall and the PSP. "It hasn't been charged for awhile, so it's probably dead," he explained, turning it on before handing over to the suddenly eager Ryuk.

"That's fine- no offense, kid, but you're not the most amusing person on the planet."

Lawliet chuckled, shaking his head before going to his desk and picking up a few books. "I've been told that before-Sayu makes no secret that she thinks I'm boring, although her view changes when she needs help on her homework," Lawliet said absentmindedly, putting the books into his bag, pulling out the Death Note hesitatingly as he did so.

Ryuk paused in what he was doing with the PSP to look up, grinning slyly as he saw Lawliet run his hand over the Death Note. "Are you gonna bring that with you?"

Lawliet glanced over at Ryuk, his large black eyes thoughtful. "I think… yes. Just for tonight. I've a hiding place in mind, but I'll need to makes sure it's going to work before just stuffing this in there and hoping for the best."

"Heheh. Whatever you say," Ryuk chuckled raspily before turning his attention back to the game, but not before seeing Lawliet slide the black notebook back into the bag.

Interesting.

A sudden calling of Lawliet's name by his mother caused the teenager to look up and grab the bag, sliding it over his shoulder. "Come on, Ryuk," Lawliet sighed. "It's better to just get this over with."

"Well, you don't sound enthusiastic," Ryuk replied, setting the game aside and following Lawliet.

The boy just shot him a glance over his shoulder. "Of course I'm not- I don't _need_ to go to cram school. It's utterly pointless for me to go, but I do it to appease my parents."

* * *

_Cram school,_ Lawliet thought boredly, seeing the other students goof off and roughhouse, _is a waste of time for everyone- teacher and students alike._

He eyed the four in the corner- the smaller, glasses-wearing boy being forced to give up his money to the local bully and his two troglodyte followers. _He's going to grow up to be a thief one day,_ Lawliet thought absently, seeing the bully clutch the money triumphantly declaring their intent to go to the arcade after cram school.

Really, why was that idiot in cram school anyway?

Sighing, Lawliet dismissed them and turned his attention to the front, where the teacher was doing his best to try to regain order and get the students to calm down and start studying.

From beside him, Ryuk chuckled, watching the human teenagers in the room with amusement in his eyes. "I kinda feel sorry for that teacher there- and I thought what I did was bad. At least he couldn't see me," Ryuk laughed, and Lawliet hummed quietly in agreement, resting his cheek on his fist and gazing off boredly into space, ignoring the group of girls that were staring at him and giggling in the corner. He settled his attention firmly towards the front, buckling in for a long hour of pointless time doing absolutely nothing worthwhile.

* * *

"Ugh, how do you do that every night, Lawliet?"

Lawliet rolled his eyes at the Shinigami rubbing his neck, a look of absolute horror on his clownish face. "I simply tune it out, Ryuk. I do this every other school night- perhaps you should learn to do as I do. Or go and do something outside of school."

"I can wander away from you, but not too far," Ryuk said thoughtfully, hovering over Lawliet's shoulder as he left the school. "I might have to do that."

Lawliet saw Ryuk look around out of the corner of his eye, confusion bleeding onto the Shinigami's face. "Hey, this isn't the way home. Where are you going?"

The Shinigami must have noticed that they were heading into town; it was dark and the city's nighttime lights were coming on, so it was hard to miss that they weren't heading back to his house. Smiling lightly, Lawliet kept walking steadily upon the concrete sidewalk, noticing that it was deserted, for the most part. It was just as well- he wouldn't want anyone to witness him talking to seemingly thin air.

"To the convenience store. We need more apples and Sayu asked me to pick up the new issue of her magazine, as I said I was going and it would be easier for me to get it for her."

"Oh." The Shinigami blinked and then smiled. "More apples?"

The Shinigami could be extremely dense and single-minded sometimes, it appeared. "Yes, Ryuk. That's what I said."

"Nice," the Shinigami hissed. "Apples…"

Lawliet just chook his head, slightly amused. The Shinigami wasn't really what one would expect of a God of Death- more like… a pet, or something. Either way, Ryuk could be entertaining sometimes, dn Lawliet didn't mind him hanging around- most of the time.

"You know, Ryuk…" Lawliet started, but then stopped, still walking along the sidewalk, but slowing down and cocking his head. The grip on the strap of his bookbag tightened, and Lawliet frowned. "Ryuk, did you hear that…?"

"Eh, hear what?" The Shinigami asked, looking around at the darkened city. "I didn't hear anything."

Lawliet frowned, his black eyebrows furrowing. "I'm positive I heard something. It sounded almost like-"

A scream suddenly rent the air, making Lawliet's eyes widen and his head whip up, his eyes scanning ahead. "A scream," Lawliet finished, his eyes locking onto an alleyway up ahead and to the right. Eyes narrowing, Lawliet started running to it, Ryuk scrambling into action behind of him and flapping to keep up.

"Hey, Lawliet, that's probably not the best idea…"Ryuk said uncertainly, but he ignored the Shinigami, running into the alley and skidding to a halt, his eyes narrowing into angered slits as he saw the sight before him.

A woman was getting accosted by a three men, their motorcycles propped against the wall. The woman was sobbing, the men cackling as they leered at her. "Hey, little lady," the obvious leader laughed, pinning the woman against the wall, "how's about having a bit of fun with me? My name's Takou Shibuimaru."

"No…I…" The woman said, looking fearfully first at Takou, and then the other two men. "Just…please. Leave me alone. I don't want any trouble; let me go!" she cried, pushing against the arm that pinned her in place.

"Nah, I don't think so," Takou leered, leaning closer.

Anger filled Lawliet as he watched this; this woman was about to get raped; he couldn't just stand by and do nothing! In a rash move, he stepped into the alley hands clenching into fists in his fury. "You should let her go!" he called, gaining the attention of the four in the alley.

"Hey, Lawliet, that's probably not the smartest idea…" Ryuk said, eyeing the three men, who looked both stronger and bigger than Lawliet, but the teenager ignored him.

Takou stepped back, releasing the woman who fell to the ground, coughing as the chokehold on her throat was released. "Yeah, and what are you gonna do, scrawny?" the man taunted Lawliet, eyeing the teenager's slim form.

Glaring at the three men, Lawliet drew himself up to his full height, stepping further into the alley. "My father is the chief of police," Lawliet hissed, drawing out his cell phone from his pocket and flashing it at the three men. "All I have to do his press the emergency button and it will send out a distress signal, activating the GPS within the phone and allow him to find me. He'll be here within a matter of minutes with his whole squad behind him."

This was a bluff, of course- his phone didn't have a tracking device, but they didn't know that. Lawliet could be a damned convincing liar when he wanted to be, and these idiots were too stupid to realize that even if he was telling the truth, there was no way that the police would get here in time if they wanted to kill him.

Three against one made him an easy target, but they didn't realize that. The use of the word "police" made them panic, and Takou's two minions looked at their leader, fear in their eyes as they awaited instruction from him.

Takou's bugging eyes narrowed and he pointed at Lawliet, reaching down to tug the woman to her feet. "Take care of him, Yoshino, Bachiro," Takou ordered, looking at first one man and then the other as he addressed them.

They nodded and then approached Lawliet, Bachiro cracking his knuckles while Yoshino chuckled. "Even if your dad's the police chief, there's no way he's gonna get here in time to save you," he laughed.

Lawliet's eyes narrowed and he slipped his bag off and tossed it to the side, not noticing the Death Note slide out, halfway out of the bag.

Lawliet ducked the first punch by Yoshino, but was unable to dodge the second one to his ribs by Bachiro, making him gasp at the sharp pain and stumble back, clutching his upper side. He lashed out, grazing Yoshino's cheek, and the man grunted and retailed by kicking Lawliet in the side, making him fall back, against the alley wall.

The impact made Lawliet crack his head against the hard brick and he cried out, the hit dazing him and sunk to the ground, world spinning around him.

"Nice, Kouki," Bachiro cackled, slapping Yoshino on the back.

"Yeah, kid wasn't that tough to take down," Yoshio grunted, kicking Lawliet in the side, making him gasp as his already bruised ribs were agitated, sending a flash of pain through him. He grimaced, looking up through bleary eyes, trying to focus on his two attackers, before flicking his eyes over to the woman and Takou. She was still struggling to get free, and Lawliet felt a wave of guilt flash though him- dammit, why couldn't he have done something and saved her!

Criminal filth- he looked up at Yoshino and Bachiro, trying his best to glare at them, which they ultimately found amusing.

"Oh, look, he's still trying to fight, Rintarou," Yoshino said gleefully. "Kinda sad, really. I was hoping for more from a police chief's son."

Those bastards, taunting him! Gritting his teeth, Lawliet lowered his eyes, freezing as he saw the Death Note splaying out of his bag.

He didn't hear the two men turn away from him, still saying derogatory things while going to help Takou and assist in the fun. He was too focused on the Death Note thoughts racing frantically through his mind.

Death Note. Kill with a name and a face.

He had both, for all three of the men in the alley. But... killing was wrong.

He wouldn't murder! He wouldn't!

But here was an innocent woman about to get raped, and he had the means to save her within reach.

Lawliet closed his eyes as indecision surged through him, his morals fighting with his sense of righteousness. Save a woman or save his morality… His eyes clenched shut, fighting against himself, trying to decide what to do.

Murder… but was it truly murder? It was the taking of life- and that was murder. But it would save a life- or at least, the innocence of a life, so wasn't that self-defense?

And they were only criminals… not worth anything, really. No one would miss them… it would be almost like justice, and Lawliet had always been intent on pursuing a career in bringing criminals to justice. His fingers twitched slightly in the direction of the Death Note, before he stopped, shaking his head.

No! Murder was wrong! People were people, and they all deserved to live and have a chance for reform. He couldn't… he couldn't kill a person… it was wrong!

A cry from the woman made Lawliet's eyes open, and his heart clenched as he saw Takou reaching for the woman's belt, sick lust glinting in his eyes.

The fear in the woman's expression made Lawliet's thoughts freeze, before settling on a decision.

No one should have to go through that. He should not be lying here, doing nothing, when the means to save this woman was within his grasp.

There was no choice.

His mind was made up.

Determination giving him strength, Lawliet pushed away his thoughts of morals and ethics, right and wrong and brought his arms under him, ignoring the surge of pain from his ribs and the back of his head. He felt blood drip down his spine, but he ignored it, eyes locked firmly upon the Death Note as he stood shakily to his feet and bent down, fingers gently grasping ahold of the black notebook and grabbing a pen that had fallen out of his bag as well.

A tingle went through his fingers as he picked it up, almost reverently caressing the cover. Slowly, he flipped it open to the first page, seeing the blank paper, pristine white.

This was murder… but police killed criminals as well, when given no other option, didn't they?

But anger surged through him as he felt the throbbing in his ribs, the blood trickling from the cut on the back of his head. This, though… this was more personal. They had accosted him, hurt him- this was what they deserved.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Lawliet's morals rebelled against this line of thinking, but it didn't register. He was unaware of the triumphant smirk that twisted his lips, or the glitter of excitement in his eyes as he brought his pen to paper and wrote the three men's names in the Death Note with almost reverent strokes, forming the kanji for each note with careful precision.

_Takou Shibuimaru_

_Kouki Yoshino_

_Rintarou Bachiro_

Then, he looked up, watching intently and mentally ticking down the forty s3econds until the three pieces of filth would clutch their chests and fell to the ground, fated to never harm an innocent woman again.

The smirk twisting his lips only grew wider as the seconds counted down to the last few.

_5._

_4._

_3._

_2._

_1._

_Death._

He watched with glittering, pleased eyes as the three criminals, one after the other, froze, clutching their chests as their hearts seized and let out a pained cry before falling to the ground, jerking a few times before going limp.

Criminal filth, never to exist and harm another innocent, good person.

Never to exist….

Murder!

Reality rushed back to Lawliet and he jerked back to his senses, looking at the Death Note with wide, horrified eyes, seeing the proof of his actions in the names written within the white pages. He let out a choked gasp as he realized that he had just killed-murdered- three men, and the Death Note slid from his hands, falling to the ground with a thump and rattling of the pages, pen clattering to the ground a second later.

Stumbling back, Lawliet covered his mouth as he surveyed the sight before him, three cooling bodies lying limp in front of him.

_He had killed!_

And… despair and horror surged through him as he remembered that he had _liked_ it, the thought of erasing those criminals from the world, of making sure that they would never go and harm another again.

"No…" he mumbled, shaking his head. "No…"

He didn't register the woman slowly getting to her feet, gazing around her with wide eyes, realizing that those about to rape her were dead.

They were… dead.

Looking around, she noticed the sole figure in the alleyway that was living other than her, shaking his head.

Had he done this?

Relief settling into her heart, she made her way delicately to him, steeping carefully over the bodies and walk-in until she stood in front of the young man with black hair. He looked up at her, fear in his obsidian eyes. "I killed them…" He whispered. His eyes widened, as if just realizing this. "I killed them!"

"You did this?" She asked, looking back. "Then you… you are the one who saved my life." She sank to her knees, reaching out to grasp his wrists and looked up at him reverently, adoration shining in her brown eyes. "You saved my life by punishing them for their crimes. They deserved death, and so their punishment was meted out."

Shocked, Lawliet watched as the woman turned Lawliet's hand over, and kissed his palm, lips brushing over the skin devotedly. "You are able to hand out death to those who deserve nothing but it… you must be Kami, God, in human form. Only someone such as a God would be able to hand out this divine punishment. Thank you… thank you…" she whispered, kissing his palm one last time before standing to her feet and gazing at him admiringly. "I will not tell anyone of this- your identity is safe with me, God. Thank you," she breathed out, before running out of the alley and turning, disappearing, leaving behind a stunned Lawliet.

God.

Kami.

Divine punishment….?

Looking down, he held his arms out, watching his shaking hands, before he closed them to stop the trembling.

That woman… she was still alive because of him. She had thanked him for killing those three men.

A part of him was horrified by what he had done, but another part was screaming that maybe, just maybe, this was right- that criminals deserved to die.

It didn't register that he still wasn't in his right mind, that part of him had broken with the taking of those men's lives; he was still too greatly in shock. All he could think about was how…right… it had felt to kill those men, to punish them for attempting to harm that woman.

And she had called him God.

God.

Could he be…? Reaching down, he picked up the death note, gazing down at it and caressing the front cover. In his hands was the power over life; as long as he had a name and a face, he could kill that person as easily as swatting a fly.

Gods had that kind of power. And if he had that power, then… it made him a God. A God in human flesh, was what that woman had called him.

And…didn't God hand out punishment to those deemed unworthy?

He blinked with this epiphany, his eyes wandering over to rest on the forms of the three men briefly before returning to the balk, worn cover of the Death Note, a twisted smile upturning his lips.

He had been so blind before, thinking that killing was wrong, period; killing was only wrong _if the ones killed were innocent_.

If they deserved death, it was only their due; it was what they deserved; it was their punishment. Their divine punishment.

And only he had the power to hand out that punishment; no one else had this power to do so.

Criminals didn't deserve to live; they needed to die, to be punished for their crimes against the innocent. But, no one else could do this; an individual lacked the power, and the government lacked the conviction to punish those who deserved it.

No one else would have the willpower, the dedication needed to punish the evildoers in the world, and leave the innocent to live their lives free of fear. No one else was worthy of doing this; they lacked th intelligence and state of mind to do this.

He clutched the Death Note, looking up to the sky, his eyes hardening. Yes. He would do this. He saw what needed to be done now. The world needed to be ridded of criminals, and only he had the power to do so; he had been called God once. Soon the whole world would realize his divine crusade against the evil in this world. Soon, they would come to realize that his punishment of those who killed and raped and stole was exactly what they deserved.

He let out a laugh at this realization, his eyes glittering with excitement, not noticing the Shinigami's wary look as his laugh turned unknowingly insane and maniacal. He was so engrossed with the object within his hands, the object that would allow him to become God and create a new world with it.

He would change the world, reshape and reform it with a stroke of his pen and knowledge of a face.

For within his hands, he had the means, and within his heart, the will… and with those two things, he would find the dedication needed to change the world…

And make it a new one.

A better one.

A utopia.


	4. Plans for a Utopia

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing.

-She thanks the readers and reviewers as always, and hope they continue to enjoy the story!

* * *

"Hey, Lawliet." Ryuk called his name hesitantly from his perch by the window, yellow and red eyes examining him cautiously.

Of course, the Shinigami might have been a little unnerved; Lawliet knew that this was so unlike him. To become so undone, to look so disheveled and…almost insane.

But that was alright. As long as no one else ever saw him like this… and it was alright for him to look just a little unhinged, because what he was thinking, what he was contemplating… was almost insane.

Well, insane to anyone who didn't understand what he would be doing, what he would be trying to create.

Lawliet bit his thumb as he crouched upon his bed, Death Note lying in front of him. He gazed upon it with contemplative eyes, not hearing Ryuk as he was developed within the intensity of his thoughts. He still wore the clothes he had been wearing earlier, when he had killed those three men.

The memory of the way the criminal filth had fell to their feet made a satisfied smile tug at his pale lips, eyes gleaming as he remembered. It was right that they had died; it was their due for all the wrongdoings they had committed, and it was his right to judge them.

He was the one who possessed the Death Note; if it fell into the wrong hands, that person could use it for all sorts of evil; but it had fallen into his hands, and with it, he could get rid of all the evil in the world and leave it pure and good for all those who were innocent.

Might as well call it fate; even if Ryuk had only dropped the thing by accident, _he_ had been the one to pick it up, _he_ had been the one to use it, and _he _would be the one to purge the world and make it a better place.

"Laaaawlieeeeet!" Ryuk wheedled from the window, and his head snapped up, taking in the hulking form of the Shinigami, irritation evident in his obsidian eyes.

"What?" Lawliet snapped, supremely irritated at being interrupted in the middle of his musings.

"Why don't you ditch that thing for a moment so that we can go get some apples? I'm pretty hungry, you know. And I go into withdrawal symptoms if I don't eat apples after a certain period of time. You don't want to see that, do you?" Ryuk cajoled. He wanted his apples, damn it!

Lawliet regarded him silently for a moment, before he closed his eyes and chuckled slightly, shifting out of his crouch and onto the floor. "You never know, Ryuk. It might be amusing."

"Amusing- hey! Hey. What are you doing?" Ryuk asked, cutting himself off and watching with a mixture of interest and horrified apprehension as Lawliet began tugging off his tie and unbuttoning his tan blazer.

"What does it look like? I'm getting undressed so I can change. It will look very suspicious if I go down covered in dirt," Lawliet explained, shrugging out of his white shirt. "If it bothers you, leave for a few minutes," he said, glancing back over his shoulder at the horrified Shinigami. He couldn't help but smile at the Shinigami's face- it was quite comical.

"Whoa, then, I'm outta here. I'm not interested in watching your skinny human body get naked," Ryuk said, spreading his wings and phasing through the wall.

Lawliet just chuckled and finished changing, throwing his dirty uniform into his hamper hand pulling on a pair of comfortable slacks and a plain, white shirt- his casual dress, for when he was at home.

He turned back to his bed and picked up the Death Note, stroking his fingers over the black cover almost reverently, thinking.

This was the object that had allowed him to both take and gove life simultaneousy- it was an object of divine karma, in a way. Those who were evil died, and in return, those who were innocent were allowed to continue living. Humans got what they deserved in the end, and now, he was the one to hand out this divine karma, instead of a God that seemed as if he had forgetten about the world, if he let bad people live and good people die.

No; God had forsaken the human race, and with his actions this night, he had stepped into that role. He had done what God would not- help that innocent woman by strking down those three men about to assault her.

A self-satisfied tweaked Lawliet's lips as he thought about that, his eyes glittering as lans swirled in his mind, about how to create a world that he had first caught a glimpse of tonight- a world where only the innocent survived.

Ryuk poked his head back into the room at the moment, his neck phasing through the wall as he eyed the room warily, his eyes finally landing on Lawliet. A relived look spread over his face as he saw that Lawliet was fully dressed, though a small grin spread across his face as he saw the black-haired teen staring at the Detah Note clutched in his hand, stroking the cover almost reverently.

Interesting... seems as if the compulsion was taking over.

"Hey, kid. You done yet?" Ryuk asked, deciding to break Lawliet's train of thought so that they could go get apples. He hadn't had any for awhile, and he could already feel the first twinges of withdrawal setting in; worriedly, he glanced down at his fingers, which were staring to twitch and curl involuntarily into add angles.

Lawliet's head snapped up, startled. He quickly recovered himself, though and calmly walked over to his desk, pulling open the drawer and setting the black notebook inside gently, then closed the drawer with a click. "Yes."

"Nice," Ryuk said happily, phasing the rest of his body through the wall as well. "Hey, I'm just curious, but what are you gonna do with the Death Note now that, you know… you've killed people?" Ryuk asked, truthfully quite curious. The kid had been so adamantly against writing in the Death Note, and now that he had… honestly, he seemed a bit off his rocker, crouching on his bed with the notebook in front of his fingers and staring at it silently for an hour. Ryuk had caught flashes of some weird emotion flash through Lawliet's black eyes, a few occasions where a small smile would twist his lips and his eyes would narrow before his features settled back into their apathetic stillness.

Kinda disturbing, if you ask him. But also kind of amusing, in a way; the Death Note had a nasty habit of twisting even the most resolute of minds, and it would seem that in Lawliet's case, though he had held out for a few days- the most anyone had, if Ryuk remembered correctly- he had succumbed in he end.

But, Ryuk allowed, the kid had done it out of necessity- and because of his personal ethics. He knew enough of humans- and the human he was attached to- that Lawliet simply could not simply sit by and let that woman get attacked. He had seen a means of saving that woman within his grasp and he had done it, even though it had gone against his beliefs.

And, Ryuk suspected, the absolute breaking of his staunch morals had been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back- the kid's mind couldn't deal with killing people, and it had broken. But it had eventually pieced itself back together. Although, it would seem as if it had been warped  
during the repair process, redefining its morals and ethics to justify what he had done so that he could live with himself.

Taking a life was murder, and murder was a heavy burden upon someone so morally upright as his human. No doubt, if he had continued to think along the lines of his previous thinking, the regret and guilt that would have plagued him in the after aftermath of his actions regarding the Death Note would have broken his mind firmly in half- not many people re-emerged totally sane after killing a person.

And it would seem Lawliet was no exception- except in the fact that his mind was sophisticated and intelligent enough to be able to continue on, justifying his actions and turning his way of thinking and seeing the world- adapting to the Death Note's influence, so to speak.

And in all of Ryuk's time on Earth, in the past centuries, he had slowly come to learn that geniuses had a funny way of wavering on the fine line between true insanity and brilliant lucidity- and Ryuk had come to know that Lawliet most definitely fell into the genius category, if his intelligence displayed in his classes was anything to go by. And it would seem as if Lawliet was one of the rare specimens of genius that was truly straddling the line between insanity and brilliance- if his suspicions were correct, Lawliet's words and actions seemed to imply that he wished to embark on a sort of "criminal genocide."

Erase the criminals from the world.

At least, that was what Ryuk thought Lawliet wanted to do. And if he chose to do this using the Death Note… it would be a most amusing time…

He was grinning happily at the thought, and so he missed the way Lawliet stiffened for a moment after Ryuk had asked him what his plans were with the Death Note. But Lawliet's body soon relaxed and he turned away from the drawer, walking to his door and unlocking it.

Ryuk jerked as he noticed Lawliet was leaving the room and hurried after him. "Hey! What about my question?!" Ryuk said indignantly, following the teen down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"What about it?" Lawliet replied nonchalantly, pulling the bowl of apples from the counter and taking one for himself, biting into it as he offered the bowl to Ryuk. "Apple?" Lawliet asked in between bites.

Ryuk's eyes lit up- he had never had free reign over how many apples he could have before!- and he snatched the bowl from Lawliet, snarfing down the apples greedily, distracted from his enquiry by the treasure before him. "Mmhph…" Ryuk groaned as the crunchy juiciness of the apple hit his tongue. "Shanks, Lalwtsh…" Ryuk said, mouth full of apple.

The teenager didn't rely; he simply leaned back against the counter, finishing off his own apple before tossing it into the can and washing his hands, waiting for Ryuk to finish patiently.

Eventually, all the apples were gone and Ryuk put the bowl back on the counter, wiping his mouth as he followed Labiate back up to his room. He had to admit, the kid's silence was kinda unnerving him. Lawliet lacked the door after them and went to his desk, pulling out the Death Note from the drawer.

"Hey, kid, you never did answer my quest-" Ryuk started, trying again.

"Ryuk," Lawliet said seriously, cutting off Ryuk and holding up the black notebook. He turned back to Ryuk, and the Shinigami took a nervous step back upon seeing the deadly intent held within Lawliet's obsidian eyes. "Do you know what I'm planning on doing with this?"

The SHinigmai stilled upon hearing the tone of Lawliet's voice, and stared unblinkingly at the teenager, feeling as if something was off with the boy. Thinking back to the alleyway, Ryuk grew uneasy, reacalling what he had observed. "No," he simply said, deciding now was not the time for smart jokes and witty quips.

Lawliet nodded, lowering his arm to stroke the cover of the Death Note with his free hand, looking down at it contemplatively. "The world is filled with criminals- those who wish to hurt the innocent for their own personal gain or pleasure. I thought… At first, I was convinced that killing, unless it was in self-defense, was wrong. But… as it turns out…_I_ was the one who was wrong," Lawliet breathed, looking up. "I will rid the world of criminals- all of them- using the Note."

"Kid, you can't be serious-" Ryuk started, but Lawliet cut him off, his eyes blazing with a self-righteous light.

"Oh, I'm deadly serious," Lawliet said, his voice hard as steel. "I plan to rid the world of criminals- each and every one of them. I was so blind before- the world's governments are corrupt. They convict criminals, yes, but they're let off too easily. Why should murderers and rapists roam the streets because they had a better lawyer than the victim, or because that country's laws are too soft? It's wrong, and I'm going to change all that!"

Ryuk waved his hands in front of his body, trying to make Lawliet slow down. "Whoa, kid. You have a plan for this?"

Foolish Shinigami. Of course he had a plan. What else di the Death God think he had been doing all night? "Yes." Lawliet set the Death Note down and turned the TV on his desk on, picking up the remote lying off to the side and switched the channel to a news channel. "I'll start out by ridding the world of the smaller criminals- starting small. I don't want people to notice what I'm doing- not yet, at least," he amended. No, it wouldn't be wise to just jump in. He had to be patient, to think and plan and do things carefully.

And maybe… Lawliet's thoughts took a detour as he thought of what he wanted to accomplish.

His father had always wanted him to follow in his footsteps, to become a detective or police officer and help uphold the law.

To be honest, his father had never spent much time with him- he had always been working overtime when he was young in order to keep his family out of debt. After being promoted to Chief of Police a few years ago, their financial situation had improved- but his father still wasn't around that much. And when he was, it seemed as if the only thing he cared about was if Lawliet was excelling in his classes.

His hands clenched unconsciously and his eyes narrowed as he thought about that. His father… he had been gone so often, that when he did come home, it was only to eat a meal tiredly, say hello and then goodnight to his family and then be gone before sunrise.

It was this action that had prompted Lawliet to crave more of his father's attention, to start excelling in school so that his father would be proud of him, so that he would be _forced_ to take notice of him when Soichiro arrived home.

Eventually, Lawliet's excellence in school had become the norm, and it was expected- he would get disappointed looks if he came home with anything less than exemplar grades. His actions outside of school were monitored- nothing that would hinder his academics were allowed, and he was only allowed to do tennis because Lawliet had mentioned that his physical state would deteriorate if he was not allowed to do _something_.

But he was encouraged to do well in that too- leading him to become the national champion in his league at school. Of course… this regimen of schoolwork hadn't left him a lot of free time in his youth, dn he was on his room studying more often than not, instead of being with his family.

Ad when Sayu had arrived… well.

Lawliet was the eldest and a boy nonetheless. He was the one to be proud of, to make their family look good. Sayu was younger than and not as smart as him- they all knew this. She would never live up to her brother, and so there was no reason to push her to do well. She passed, and that was enough.

Most of their parent's love and affection went to Sayu, and in return, he got their pride. But still…

It made him a bit resentful of Sayu and his parents, sometimes. They had not known how to handle and raise a child when he was brought into the world. And they had made many a mistake in raising him- they were too strict, wanting the best for him but they were misguided in their attempts at parenting.

Now, though, they knew how to handle Sayu, but it was still a bitterness that rose in his chest when he thought of how differently his childhood could have been if his parents had showed him more affection and not made him desperate to excel in order to gain his attention. Perhaps he would not have come out so aloof, so advanced beyond his classmates that it was awkward to interact with them.

"Hey, kid. What's your plan? You sorta trailed off."

Ryuk's grating voice brought him back from his reverie, and Lawliet shook his head, focusing back on his plans for the Death Note, swiping a hand through his black, feathery hair and taking a deep breath, getting back on track.

"Yes… and then, after a month or so of killing petty criminals, I'll start killing the world's worst criminals- the dredges and scourges of society. They'll be dropping like flies- the world's most dangerous filth erased from existence by a simple heart attack."

Lawliet sat down, reclining back in his chair with a pleased smile set on his face. It sort of reminded Ryuk of a cat who had just gotten the cream: self-satisfied and oh so haughty. "They'll connect the deaths of the lesser criminals to the bigger ones. The world will realize that there's been a person-no, a god- watching over them all along. They'll know of my existence, of my work. The crime rate will have already been going down with the deaths of the lesser criminals, and now that the worse criminals are dying, the world will come to appreciate my work. It's like boiling a frog, Ryuk. You toss a frog in a pot of boiling water, and he'll jump out immediately. But if you put a frog in a pot of lukewarm water and slowly heat it, he won't realize what's going on until he's boiled and dead."

"Uh, frog?" Ryuk asked, thoroughly confused. He had never boiled a frog before, so he had no inkling as to what Lawliet was talking about. "I'm not sure I get where you're going with this."

"Exposure, Ryuk," Lawliet explained, sitting up and leaning forwards intently. "It's all about exposure. If I start killing famous criminals, people will rebel. The thought of killing criminals is still too fresh an idea, too against what people believe-what I used to believe- to be accepted right away. But, if I expose them to it slowly, make them not realize what's truly going on until they realize the good effects of what's happening, they'll be much more open to my actions. If I just started killing off criminals, I'd be regarded as a vigilante of the worst sort. But once the world comes to connect the deaths of criminals to a lowering crime rate, they'll be that much more grateful for what I've done."

"Oh," Ryuk said, nodding as realization dawned. "I get it. Nice," he said. He had to give the crazy kid props- he had a good idea. Not with the whole "I'm gonna kill of all the bad people and live in a perfect world," because it had been tried before and shit did not end well, but with the whole exposure idea.

But, like he had thought before- the last time someone had tried this with a Death Note, it had not ended well. In fact, all the people associated with the Death Note and the investigation had died, the investigators killed by the holder of the Death Note, and then the owner, his mind broken and unable to handle what had happened, killed himself by writing his own name in the Death Note.

Of course, Lawliet was a genius, he knew. If anyone could hold his own against the police and people who no doubt would wish to investigate the deaths of all the criminals dropping dead, it would be this kid.

He was just excited to see how this was going to pan out.

"But," Lawliet said, his inky brows furrowing and the words drawing Ryuk's attention back to him, "I'll not be able to see all that is going on… Ryuk," Lawliet addressed him, turning his serious, obsidian eyes up to the hulking Shinigami. "Would you be willing to help me?"

"Whoa, hey, I'm not on your side, nor anyone else's," Ryuk said, holding up a boney hand. "It's against the rules to interfere with something like this. Could get me killed, you know."

"Ah, yes. I had forgotten," Lawliet said, turning away and looking quite dejected. He had hoped… but perhaps the Shinigami could be guilted…

Ryuk blinked, surprised that the kid had given up so quickly. But looking at him, with his shoulders slumped… Ryuk remembered how interested the kid had been in him earlier. Well… Ryuk reconsidered. The kid was kinda cool… and if he were careful, and laid down some ground rules so that Lawliet knew exactly what he would and would not do… meh, why not? And he really did kinda like the teen. He certainly was more interesting than the previous holders of his Death Note, once he had started talking and not being so boring. And this little plan the kid had cooked up certainly was promising…? It might be amusing to help the kid out. It certainly might help the kid live longer one he put his plan into action.

Because no owner of the Death Note lived very long.

"Eh," Ryuk started, making Lawliet's head snap back up and over to him. "Well… there are certain things I _could_ do that won't affect me any… and you're a lot more interesting and definitely more different than other humans… why not? Sure, kid, I'll help you, as long as what you want me to do won't get me killed for breaking the rules."

"Really?" Lawliet asked, his black eyes gleaming. He glanced away, closing his eyes and nodding. "Thank you, Ryuk!"

Just looking at Lawliet's thankful face made the Shinigami think that maybe it had been a good idea to help the kid out. He kinda liked being an idol- at least, that's what he thought that Lawliet regarded him as. He certainly had felt so yesterday, when the kid had been so interested in him and the Shinigami Realm. And maybe he could get Lawliet to give him more apples in exchange for his help… Just the thought made Ryuk's eyes glaze over and his thoughts trail off dazedly.

But what Ryuk didn't catch in his happy state, distracted by the thoughts of apples was the satisfied smirk that twisted Lawliet's lips, nor the sadistic glitter in his black eyes as he slitted them open to regard the Shinigami in triumph.

The Death God would be most useful. It was sad, really, how such an ancient being had been so easy to manipulate.

* * *

"Three men died of heart attacks simultaneously in an alley in Japan? Are you sure?"

"Positive, sir. The coroner that was called into handle the corpses after the bodies were discovered by a civilian made extra-sure of this, after examining the bodies. The D.O.D. was all within a few seconds of each other, and the oddity of the situation was only offset by the fact that all men were extremely fit and healthy- there was no cause at all for them to have heart attacks."

"How odd… and certainly most intriguing. Have they been identified?"

"Yes."

"And their family's health histories checked?"

"Of course, sir. All of their predecessors had no history of any heart-related complications, whether it be disease or a history of frequent heart attacks."

"Hm…" How absolutely intriguing… it sounded almost like murder… but how that person would pull it off was still a mystery. And he lived for mysteries such as this.

"How would you like to proceed with this, sir?"

"Contact the Japanese embassy. I'd like to be kept up-to-date on this phenomenon. Watch and follow the situation closely- I want to know right away if anything else like this occurs."

"Of course, sir."

"And Watari?"

"Yes sir?"

"When you come this way again… I'd like some more potato chips. I happen to be out of them."

"As you'd like, sir."

* * *

-How odd. It seems as if FanFiction has been eating snippets of the chapter... It's fixed now, but still rather intriguing as to why this happened...


	5. No Choice But to Bring in L

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing.

Thank you to all the readers and reviewers-please, do continue to enjoy the story.

* * *

Nemushita Kiro.

Takahashi Misaki.

Kaido Haru.

Three of many criminals that had been eliminated from the world, never to sow their filth among the human race again.

All these names written down one after the other for their crimes against humanity.

Gone, with the stroke of a pen.

Lawliet's eyes flitted across the lined paper, his pen swiftly forming kanji after kanji, only pausing to look up at the TV where the news was displayed every so often.

A month had passed since that day he had picked up the Death Note, and his plan was slowly starting to come into effect.

Starting off by killing a few petty criminals per day, the occurrences had been noted, and when they had, Lawliet had moved onto criminals with slightly more serious crimes; small-time robbers and those convicted of aiding and abetting a murderer, criminals like that.

People had then started to take notice, TV stations starting to link the cause of death together with the number of criminals dying, and speculation was beginning to arise. Discussions had been held on talk shows about these happenings over the world, and Lawliet, pleased, upped the notch further.

Now, he killed the major criminals in the world- the at-large murderers and rapists, the very scum of the earth.

And people were starting to notice this change as well, just as he'd thought- and hoped- they would. They knew someone out there was killing criminals using heart attacks, and it was openly discussed on TV and in public now.

People were starting to know of his existence- they called him Kira, and while he hated being called "killer", at the same time, it pleased him to be _known_, to be so widely feared and talked about that people had had to give him a name. Criminals should fear him, know of him because of his name and reputation.

It was very, very pleasing. And even more so that sometimes, he would pass by people on the street, and find them praising Kira's- his- actions, saying what he did for the best. Though he paid no notice to those who openly said what he did was wrong- he had known that not everyone would be accepting of his new ideals at first, and to kill people for such a petty reason was against what he staunchly believed in.

He was doing what he did to help people, not kill them just because his ideals differed from his. Besides, he was confident that people would come to accept him in time. The time it took to boil a frog varied on its size- the larger the fog, the longer it took- and he was attempting to boil a very, very large frog.

And Ryuk…. He wasn't of much help right now, but when the police started taking notice of what was going on- as they no doubt would, for Soichiro had already been talking of how this Kira's actions were wrong and a crime against humanity- he would need the Shinigami's help to stay under the radar.

After all, it was only a matter of time before the police started investigating the heart attacks, and Lawliet knew enough of profiling to guess that he'd be one of the suspects. He wrote down names in his free time, and the criminals' times of death could be traced back to a student's schedule.

And obviously, they'd suspect someone of higher intelligence; no mere ordinary student could pull something like this off, so they'd be looking for those who were bright, and Lawliet knew that he was definitely one of them.

But the main problem was finding a way around the limits school and homework put on the time that he had to write down criminal's names. Careful questioning of Ryuk had led him to learn that he could control criminals before they died, though he had only tested that once or twice. He didn't want to give away anything that might give him an advantage this early in the game, and his experimentation with the Death Note might be able to be traced later on, when the police started really digging into the times and ways criminals died.

Looking back now, Lawliet berated himself for not experimenting with the Death Note's limitations earlier; they knew he was targeting criminals, and if a criminal died in a suspicious way other than a sudden heart attack, they would know that he had means other than his preferred method of killing.

But it was too late to go back and redo things now. If it came to it, he could always just word things carefully, and he might be able to get more out of Ryuk, as the death god had agreed to help him. And Ryuk would definitely be of help once he was forced to enact the plan that he had come up with to throw the police off of his trail, once the timing of Kira's killings forced suspicion to fall onto a student.

Ryuk could write down the names of criminals in his own personal Death Note at random intervals- and it would only help the Shinigami, because those years from the criminals would only go directly to the death god's lifespan, increasing it.

And he had another fallback plan in case more radical action was needed- though he disliked being around other people, and that plan was for use in only the neediest and direst of circumstances. Ryuk would be his main plan, and if the Shinigami accidentally made a mistake when writing down a name and increased a random stranger's lifespan with his actions and consequently died, well… it would be the loss of a valuable ally, but it would not matter, in the long run.

But he'd have to be careful, so very careful not to ask Ryuk to do anything that would force him to lose his life, for he had a feeling Ryuk would turn on him very quickly if he suspected anything. But he would be useful in watching for any sort of surveillance on him or the rest of his family…

His pen came to a slow halt on the Death Note as he sighed and sat back, tired eyes closing as he scrubbed a hand through his hair.

His father… it pained him to see that his father did not agree with Kira's motives. He had hoped…

As a police officer, he had so hoped that his father would understand what Kira was trying to do- to make the world a better place for those that deserved such. His father had always wanted him to go into the justice system, either as an officer, a detective or other sort of agent- it was what he had been groomed for, Lawliet knew.

And perhaps, he had hoped that if Soichiro supported Kira, he could come out as who he really was to his father, and he would be so proud, so very proud of him for once in his life. It was something he had always craved, his father's pride in _him_, in himself, not just his grades or accomplishments.

_To know that he doesn't believe in what I'm doing is somewhat… disheartening, _Lawliet admitted to himself as he rolled his shoulders, tilting his head back. His wrist had been starting to cramp, a sure sign that it was time to stop for the evening, and so he took a moment to stop and rest, taking in the lazy afternoon sunlight bathing his room in a gilded glow and the Shinigami that was quietly and peacefully playing a game in the corner.

Using some of the pocket money he had saved up, he had bought another gaming console and a few more games for Ryuk to entertain himself with, as well as a DVD set of anime for the Shinigami to watch. It kept Ryuk out of his hair while he wrote in the Death Note and scoured the news for the names and faces of criminals, so he didn't mind.

Shaking his head, Lawliet carefully closed his Death Note and stood up, starching, his shirt riding up over his pale stomach. Ryuk didn't look up as he picked up the Note and walked over to a certain spot in front of his bookshelf, where a loose floorboard was. Pulling it up slightly, he slipped the thin notebook into the crack, listening to it thump onto the concrete a few inches below the wood.

It was a safe place, a weakened spot in the floorboards that only he knew of. There was no need for the traps and paranoid precautions Ryuk had mentioned previous owners of the Note using to hide the black book. Simplicity was sometimes the best of plans, and this was a simple, undiscoverable hiding place of the tool that he would need to make the utopia he dreamed of a reality.

His utopia…

He did fear it would take a long time. He, himself had rebelled against killing of any sort other than self-defense before he had used the Note and found that what he was doing was right.

It was especially hard to hide that he was Kira from his family, especially his father whose love and pride he craved so desperately.

_But_, Lawliet thought, standing up and brushing his knees off, _perhaps in time_.

The idea was too radical, too fresh and too new for those who were used to the old justice system to accept right away. Right now, those that openly supported him were mostly those around his age, if not a few years older or younger.

It was too soon to hope for worldwide, encompassed support. But, what he could do was get his name, his actions out there, make people _know _about him, to let them know that there was a person out there, working towards a better world, working towards passing judgment on those that were wicked and cruel.

Patience.

He just had to patient; and luckily that was something he had in abundance. Years of dealing with those possessing an intellect far inferior to his own had taught him that he needed patience in explaining thing to them, waiting for them to catch up to him, and dumbing things down so that they might understand.

Yes. Lawliet was very, very patient, and he'd wait years for his world to become a reality, if he had to.

After all, he had plenty of time. He would not be dying anytime soon; or at least, he had no plans to be.

Nodding to himself, Lawliet pushed in his chair, witched off his TV and starched once more, rubbing the top of his head. And then he winced, feeling as if his hair was grimy.

Perhaps he'd take a shower; the thought of the hot water was very appealing right now, and he definitely had the time, as his schoolwork was done. "Ryuk," he called softly, making the Shinigami look up at him, pausing his game.

"Yeah?" Ryuk asked.

"I'm going to take a shower. Can you amuse yourself for an hour or so, and make sure that if Sayu comes looking for me, to make sure she doesn't see any floating gaming devices?" Lawliet asked, pointing to the device in Ryuk's clawed hands.

"Yeah, I can do that," Ryuk nodded, before his eyes lit up. "Apple?"

"Sure. There's a few in my bag," Lawliet said, turning away and taking off his white causal shirt, discarding it onto the floor to pick up later as the Shinigami tossed the device aside and dove for his bag, opening it eagerly and crowing in glee as he discovered the apples.

Lawliet found a pair of pajama pants- b the time he finished in the shower, it would be time to go to sleep. He had a very strict schedule- his efficiency and mental functions would decrease if he didn't get enough sleep, and in order to stay at the top of his class as well as stay ahead in his homework to have enough time to write down criminal's names, he needed a full 8-9 hours of sleep.

"Make sure you eat the cores as well, and watch for Sayu," Lawliet called softly as he padded to the bathroom. The Shinigami only nodded as he continued to snarf down apples happily, juice running down his chin.

And Lawliet smirked as he closed the bathroom door behind him.

If all it took to keep the Shinigami happy and on his side was a stream of apples and entertainment, then he'd willingly do so. After all, if the time came when he had to start evading the police when they chose to start investigating the deaths of criminals, Ryuk's help and invisible presence and pair of eyes would be most appreciated.

But Lawliet didn't expect it to come to that, not really. It would take a truly observant mind and genius-level capabilities to be able to trace it back to him. He had covered his tracks quite well, and there was no physical evidence to link back to him.

And he had a trump card, as well.

If it came to it…

He would relinquish the Death Note and his memories, proving any attempts to question him and analyze his reactions truly futile.

Everything was going slowly, yes, but coming together and proceeding so beautifully, like the way a flower's bud unfurled so slowly, only to reveal a perfect bloom hidden within.

His plans were the unfurling bud, and the perfect, blooming flower the products of his plan. And everything was going perfectly.

Exactly as planned.

* * *

"This is certainly taking on an interesting turn, isn't it…?"

"If you say so, sir."

"Hm. I do say so. I think… the ICPO might want to contact me sometime soon. Most likely within the next day, as they are meeting tomorrow."

"Are you taking the case?"

"I think… yes. I've already began my own investigation into it, as you probably already well know, Watari. I find this most intriguing, the thought of a supernatural killer; he can be nothing else but that. I feel that this will be one of my most important cases yet."

"You've already started your investigation? How would you like to proceed further into it?"

"I've already narrowed down the country he has to be in, and I'm in the middle of narrowing out a list of suspects. But I'll wait to tell you. When the ICPO calls me in, I'll tell them everything, and you will learn at that time."

"…Of course."

"Good. Now, will you please get my travel laptop ready? I have a feeling the ICPO will be most anxious when they finally do call me in. And more potato chips, if you come this way again."

* * *

The next day, in Japan, where Kira's killings were suspected to have originated, the ICPO gathered to discuss the presence that had taken the world by storm with his actions.

Soichiro Yagami, Lawliet's father was there, as he was Japan's main Chief of Police. One of the men who worked with/for him, Matsuda Touta was supposed to be there as well, but the space reserved for him next to Soichiro remained conspicuously empty, headset untouched.

Soichiro sat quietly, observing and listening to the other representatives of the world's police as they discussed the action that should be taken against Kira. He was both surprised- and disgusted- to learn that some of the countries supported Kira's actions and the varying viewpoints caused dissent among the gathered men.

"The killings have reached a phenomenal rate- something must be done!" Chile's representative, a handsome, lean, swarthy man stood up as he said this, fists clenching and hitting the table to enunciate his words. "This is not right, what this Kira is doing!"

"I agree. This is wrong, what this Kira is doing. He must be stopped!" Canada's representative said staunchly, sitting back and crossing her arms, nodding in agreement.

Another woman stood up, holding out her arms as she locked eyes with those in the room. A stout, graying woman, she looked fierce and commanded respect. "Why?" Romania's representative entreated. "If convicted criminals- especially on death row- are killed a bit ahead of their time, what's wrong with that?"

"I agree," Italy's representative seconded, gazing over at Romania's. "In my opinion, Kira has done nothing wrong."

"Murder is murder, no matter what the person killed has done in his past!" Denmark's representative argued, standing up and glaring at Romania's representative fiercely. "We need to take action against Kira!"

At this moment, Matsuda Touta slipped into the room, quietly making his way through the din and cries of outrage and arguments, settling into his chair and placing his headset onto his head. "Sorry, chief," he whispered to Soichiro, looking over apologetically. "My sister was in the hospital and it made me late."

"That's alright," Soichiro replied, looking with distaste at the arguing, angry crowd of men who represented the world's police forces. "We're not getting anywhere, and I don't think that'll change anytime soon."

"Oh," Matsuda said, blinking and looking around. "What have I missed?"

As Soichiro began to give Matsuda a recap of the meeting's goings-on so far and bring him up to speed, Russia's representative, a large, stocky man with a florid face stood up, livid in his anger. "This killer should not be allowed to continue doing what he is doing! He must be brought to justice!"

Those who agreed with the Russian's view nodded, a distinctly pleased expression flitting across their features.

"What do you expect us to do?" Lithuania's representative replied, shrugging wearily, tired of the argument that seemed to be going in circles and getting nowhere. "There is nothing we can do- our hands are tied. I few investigate further into it, we risk having our operatives killed. Kira has not yet killed any non-criminals, but there is no telling what he might do if he feels backed into a corner!"

"He can kill without actually being there, can't he?" Canada's representative said thoughtfully, tapping her finger on the table in contemplation as she pushed this idea out onto the table.

"Smart," Soichiro muttered, gripping a hand around the speaker in front of his mouth in order to converse with Matsuda privately. "As yet, we don't actually know how Kira kills, but I'm sure everyone was thinking along the same lines as she was."

"Yeah," Matsuda said, muting his own speaker and leaning closer. "I've read and heard enough about Kira to think that he has some way of killing telepathically, or something. It's kinda scary, in a way."

"We don't know that for sure. For all we know, Kira may be a network of people who poison criminals!" Afghanistan's representative said, a twitchy, slim man. His dark eyes flitted around the room in an attempt to see who thought the same as he did. "We need to treat this not as the work of a single person, but as a collective group working together across the globe!"

"A group of people killing criminals? IS that what you think of it as?" Russia's representative scoffed. "Then I don't think I'm alone in thinking that if that were the case, one of the more private and governmentally-funded organizations are responsible for this- such as the FBI," he said, smirking, shooting a triumphant glare over to the US's representative, who was actually in charge of the FBI in their country.

At this, the US's representative grew angry, standing up and leaning over the table to shout back, "Come over here and say that to my face!"

"Calm down!" Switzerland's representative yelled, waving his arms. "As of right now, there is no evidence to suggest that this Kira is actually working alone or is, in fact, a globally-connected group!"

"Actually…we've already interviewed the guards in prisons in our countries- they have no connections to this Kira," Greece's representative offered neutrally. "The possibility of a group globally poising criminals is next to impossible. And the tox-reports of the deceased criminals came in negative. There is no untraceable poison in the world that causes heart attacks like this."

"And the range of killings is too diverse. _No_ man has enough power to command men in every single country," Albania's representative added.

"No, you're wrong. There is someone," Scotland's representative, a youthful, yet serious blonde man spoke up.

"Who?" Albania's representative asked, turning to his left to look at the man.

"L."

There was a moment of silence as this new option was tossed onto the table, and then-

"…Why don't we call him in, then?" New Zealand's representative, an aged, dignified man offered mildly, shrugging. "Surely, if he can solve the world's toughest cold cases, he can handle something like this."

"We don't have any other ideas," Norway's representative agreed, a tall, white-blonde haired man. "And only he has worldwide power, enough to control the police in every country. If anyone can solve this, he can," the fair-skinned man finished, and there was a mumble of collective agreement around the room, many representatives and their aides muting the speakers on their headset and leaning closer to converse over this newly-thrown kink privately.

Mastuda did the same, a look of mild confusion on his face. "Uh, Chief," Matsuda whispered, taking advantage of the momentary distraction. "Who's L?"

Soichiro looked surprised for a moment before he understood. "Oh, this is your first time at one of these meetings. We don't know L's real name or his whereabouts. Actually, we don't know what he looks like. However, he's managed to solve every case's he's ever taken on, and he's tackled some of the greatest mysteries and cold cases the world has ever known. He hides in the shadows, but he's the best of the best, the last resort, our trump card."

Soichiro paused, and then tilted his head, a small, reminiscent smile on his face. "My son looks up to him greatly, in fact- his greatest desire, when he was younger, was to _be_ L." His brows then furrowed, and then he said softly, "But… I'm not even sure what Lawliet wants anymore…We've not truly talked for some time…"

At that moment, the room seemed to come to a general agreement, and the U.K.'s representative stood up, nodding. It caused Soichiro to snap out of his reverie and clear his throat, looking up.

"Yes, I think… it's time. We have no choice but to bring in L."

There was a collective shock that overtook he room at the announcement, and then before anyone had a chance to protest or speak, a deep voice cut across the room, silencing everyone.

"L is already on the move."

Footsteps resounded on the carpeted floor as a tall man in a brown trenchcoat, collar turned up, and dark fedora pulled low over his face walked dignifiedly into the room. He drew everyone's eyes, and they watched, unspeaking as he came forwards. A black case was clutched in his hand, and those in the room were silent as he made his way over to the table in front of the room.

He came to a stop and faced those in the room. The light of the screen behind him gave the man a dark outline in the darkened room, and one could only just make out a faint outline of the man's lower face, though it was mostly fuzzy and undefined.

"Everyone, L has already begun his investigation into these incidences."

"Watari…" The name echoed across the room, causing muted murmurs, and Matsuda frowned in confusion.

He tilted his head over to Soichiro, taking advantage of the momentary distraction to ask, "Who's Watari?"

Soichiro leaned forwards, examining the trenchcoat-clad man with keen interest as he replied. "That man's the only one known person who can contact L. Nobody knows _his_ true identity, either." There was a slight note of derision in Soichiro's voice, as if he didn't approve of all the secrecy and deception.

Matsuda slightly understood, though, and privately thought that Soichiro mistrust of the whole thing was unfounded. In his mind, L was kind of like a superhero- and the all superheroes had a secret alter-ego separate from them, to throw their nemesis off track.

And in L's case, every criminal in the world was his nemesis. It would make sense that he would have to hide his true identity. He probably had a lot of enemies.

"Please be silent." Watari's voice cut across the room, silencing the room as a whole. "L would know like to address the delegates."

He then placed the black case on the table in front of him, pulling out a sleek, unmarked silver laptop. Swiftly hooking it up to the speakers and plugging in the cord to the large screen behind them that seemed to have been placed there in case such opportunity should arise, he then opened it, revealing a cream-colored background with a single black, gothic letter "L" taking over the screen- L's name and insignia.

With a small beep, L's insignia replaced the picture of a globe on the large screen, and as soon as it flickered into existence, a distorted, filtered voice resounded in the room.

"Greetings to all of you at the ICPO. I am L."

* * *

Ridiculous, really. He generally disliked working with others, as they simply could not keep up with him and only served to slow him down and place restrictions on him that obstructed his investigations.

And this was one of the times.

But he'd need their support and permission if he wanted to be able to really investigate and dig into this case to the best of his abilities. Especially permission from Japan's delegate. Soichiro Yagami was a man he had had to deal with before, through second-hand means, and he wasn't the most trusting of sorts. But he'd need Mr. Yagami's cooperation, as well as the man whom he worked under to complete this investigation.

This killer was clever and tricky. Even he didn't know how this Kira killed- and the confusion it caused him was both exhilarating and infuriating at the same time.

It had been so very long since he had had a true challenge, a change to dance with a criminal and put his life on the line, to have to use every one of the brain cells he had been gifted with to solve a case and safely place another murderer behind bars- or on death row.

A crooked smile overcame his face as he waited for the murmurings his presence had caused in the conference room of the ICPO to die down, turning to his secondary computer to the right side of him.

Kira. Killer.

Mystery.

Challenge incarnate.

_Opponent_.

The smirk only grew wider, becoming more twisted as he reached out a hand to gently trace his fingers along the screen of the computer, where a single Word document was pulled up, taking over the screen.

On it, a single word was typed in all capitals, in the same font that he used for his letter L, his alias and identity.

Kira.

It was typed out in large, bold letters, stark against the white of the document's page.

A single, graceful finger painstakingly traced the outline of each letter almost reverently, and a dark chuckle was issued from his throat, laced with anticipation.

"Kira," he hissed softly, teeth gleaming from the light of the laptop, the only thing lighting up the dark room he resided in. "Are you to be my latest challenge? I have a feeling you'll offer me a most wonderful challenge. Don't let me down, little killer. Don't disappoint me, for I've become so bored, and you present to me a most intriguing chance to match minds with someone of my own caliber."

In the darkened room, Light smiled, gazing at the computer screen through caramel-colored locks, gleaming amber eyes glittering with excitement.

"Prepare yourself, little killer," he whispered. "This will be a glorious chase."


End file.
